DANCE / Keep Up With Every Move

Octavio Roca, Chronicle Dance Critic

Published
4:00 am PST, Tuesday, March 7, 2000

Despite its name, there is a lot more than ballet at Balletcompanies.com. The site was founded in 1998 and is still run by Dick Heuff of the Netherlands Dance Theater. It is basically a clearinghouse of company Web sites, organized by country, with additional sites for dance news and useful advertisements for everything from toe shoes to dance music.

Browsing here can be addictive: You may type in the keyword "France" in order to search for the current Compagnie Preljocaj schedule then become sidetracked by information about everything from Roland Petit's latest full- length ballet at the Paris Opera to what's doing in Strasbourg. This is the site to check for anyone planning a trip wondering what dance may be in store on arrival.

Another useful and entertaining site is the Dance Collection, the Web site of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts and home of the world's largest and most comprehensive archive devoted to dance. There are many sections here, but navigating among the choices is easy and return visits are immensely rewarding.

The main focus is on documenting dance, whether ballet, ethnic, folk, social or modern. Some of the more fascinating resources include the Isadora Duncan Collection, the Lincoln Kirstein Collection and the American Ballet Theatre archives.